Tell me about living in Portland!

wabadee1

I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am thinking about moving. I visited Portland while on vacation a couple years ago and I loved it. I'm recently divorced so I would be moving there alone. What are the fun and cute neighborhoods? How much is typical rent for a two bedroom apartment? Are there cute homes available for rent?  I know it rains a lot but I'm curious how much is a lot. Any info you can provide would be super helpful! I'd love to know about Portland from people that actually live there!

TIA

SDgirl22

Hey A!!!! I'm seceretly on this board, too, as DH and I are 99% sure we're going to be moving here by next summer at the latest. It was between NorCal or Portland, and well...Portland won.So, we're not there yet, so I an't answer any of those questions, but hopefully someone on here can. Scroll down a bit in the posts, there's some good info on area's in Portland.

Remember AllisonTeehee? (changed to ZippyCheese?) You should try and page her on the NorCal board...she moved up here in April and loves it. She was great at answering alot of questions I had about moving to the PDX area.

I can SO see you loving/living in Portland! 

sleepyocean

We moved up here from the SF Bay Area in March, so I can't answer too many of your questions.  I can tell you that we love it here!  2 bedroom apartments were going for around $800 on average when we were looking, some as low as $600 some for around $1000.  We ended up just outside Portland in Beaverton, but there seem to be a lot of fantastic neighborhoods all over the Portland area!  Someone more native to the area could probably help you out with that more!

wabadee1

sleepyocean:

We moved up here from the SF Bay Area in March, so I can't answer too many of your questions.  I can tell you that we love it here!  2 bedroom apartments were going for around $800 on average when we were looking, some as low as $600 some for around $1000.  We ended up just outside Portland in Beaverton, but there seem to be a lot of fantastic neighborhoods all over the Portland area!  Someone more native to the area could probably help you out with that more!

How's the weather been?

sleepyocean

It didn't rain as much as we would've expected.  It was mostly cloudy with a few showers here and there in the Spring and there were occasional days of sunshine, though I'm sure Fall and Winter will be a different story.  Summer didn't really start until July.  From what information I've gathered, you actually experience the seasons here, it gets cool and rainy in the fall, cold and rainy with the very occasional dusting of snow in the winter, and cool-mild and some rain in the Spring.  I like the rain, I felt like we didn't get nearly enough rainy weather in California... and I look forward to wearing sweaters and jackets this fall and winter, I may be regretting that later, but we'll see!

mrspdxbride06

A few things...

• Definitely find a job before moving here. Portland has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
• What are you looking for in a neighborhood? Portland is a city defined by the personalities of its various neighborhoods. Some popular ones you may want to research are: Pearl District, NW Portland/Nob Hill, Hawthorne, Belmont, Sellwood, Beaumont, Irvington, Alberta. Portland Monthly Magazine does an article each year where they rate the neighborhoods by the numbers...this is usually better for one looking to buy a house but it could be helpful for apartment hunting too (it provides crime rates, median income, school ratings, average home cost, etc).
• It does rain quite a bit but I think it's a common misconception. Really what gets to people is the gray, not the rain. It's typically pretty gray from about mid-late October through May/June. We usually have nice falls (warm sunny days, followed by cool crisp nights) and the rain/gray starts about mid October. I would strongly encourage you to come visit during our winter months so you can get a taste of it. It's very easy to fall in love with this city during the nice weather months but it's the gray/winter months that really matter. I've had three friends from CA move back to CA after moving here because they couldn't handle the gray.

Good luck in your search. I think there's a reason why there are a lot of native Oregonians around here...we know that we live in a gem of a state.

PappsMcgee

Hi!  I agree with what MrsPdx said.

I moved here from San Jose Ca in 2005 and had lived in Cali all my life.

Heres what I can offer you:  It is VERY beautiful here and the people are SO much nicer than in the bay.  I think one of the reasons its so pretty here is because its so green (from the rain). It rains here much more than in CA, and is much cooler (can get into the low teens in winter). To me it rains quite a bit, but it is also just gray a lot as well.  But that is what gives us all the greenery!

If you have any other q's, feel free to ask me! I'm here for ya!

D